Is this normal??

[tynme]

I'm a new parent to a 12 year old boy, so I'm not sure what is normal or not. Is it normal for boys of this age to draw pictures of guns, bombs, killing, etc (humans and aliens)? I'm just trying to figure out if this is a normal 12 year old's imagination, or something I need to draw attention to. I have no idea what his exposure was prior to April (when he was placed with us) but I'm fairly confident he had free reign. This was in one of his notebooks, and he doesn't know I saw. There was also swearing "Oh Sh*t" and "What the h*ll", yet we have absolutely no behavioral problems at all in our house. Thanks

[Oriole]

I don't think it's a big problem, provided everything else seems normal.

I know my brother drew those kinds of pictures around that age, and he is one of the least violent people I'e EVER met in my life.

[annethcz]

I know lots of boys in the 10-12 age range who draw pictures like that. It seems normal to me.

As for the swearing, different words are appropriate and allowed in different situations. My kids have been known to swear at home, but they learned long ago that there is a time and a place for everything.

[Leenie]

Yes, yes, yes!!!! My ds is 9 and draws them all the time. No matter what, boys are going to draw stuff like that. I have 3 boys, and the youngest is the 9 year old.

[boobybunny]

My 12 year old son designs tanks, planes and weapons during his down time.

He will also name them.. the holy sh.t hitter and other so called bad words in the name.

He does not draw blood or pictures.. but I would not be surprised if he did.


He is also an honor roll student, helpful around the house, sweet, kind, loving and athletic..

Take it all with a grain of salt.. and talk to him about his drawings..
We did with Isaac, turns out he wants to be an electrical engineer... so we are now directing some of his down time to building robots with basic programming capabilities.

[joyluc]

My DS has drawn weapons and fighters all his life, it is who he is. But last winter his pictures became more violent he was also more angry and agressive in his behavior. He is in counseling now for depression. I know you don't have that history with this boy but trying to have a sense of what is usual for him and if his behavior is causing concern it might make sense to have him assessed.

[bestjob]

My son has always drawn pictures like that... when he has drawn at all.

He's also the most likely of my kids to hug me or pat me on the back when I need it.

He's 11 and his sis is 15 and the bro is 8.

[journeymom]

Those are pretty tame swear words. My impression is that this is his version of a diary. In which case he's experimenting with these words, seeing what they look like on paper in his hand writing.

I would be concerned if he was depicting cruel behavior. But I do remember sixth grade school boys drawing tanks and guns and bloody battle scenes. Zombies with blood spurting. Grossness.

My nine year old son draws stuff like this sometimes and I tease him, Eww! That's gross! But I laugh about it. So I'm not worried about it, but I'm putting that tiny reminder in his head that it IS kind of yucky. He gets that I'm not shaming him, he just knows that some people, like his mom, think it's gross.

Your perspective is better than ours, of course. You can gauge the scope and intensity of it. But what you describe sounds normal and reasonable.

[BedHead]

Totally normal. My younger son had a landscape that I painted on his wall for him to depict battle scenes. They got REALLY intricate, including blood, severed limbs, etc. It kept him occupied and his mind creating for HOURS.

As for the swear words, my kids all used sh!t and he!! by the time they were 12. To us they barely qualify as swear words.

[Theoretica]

Originally Posted by tynme

I'm a new parent to a 12 year old boy, so I'm not sure what is normal or not. Is it normal for boys of this age to draw pictures of guns, bombs, killing, etc (humans and aliens)? I'm just trying to figure out if this is a normal 12 year old's imagination, or something I need to draw attention to. I have no idea what his exposure was prior to April (when he was placed with us) but I'm fairly confident he had free reign. This was in one of his notebooks, and he doesn't know I saw. There was also swearing "Oh Sh*t" and "What the h*ll", yet we have absolutely no behavioral problems at all in our house. Thanks

Totally normal mama